Re-using junk!

[steev]

I often go by a stone merchantry (could be a word, they sell stone) to check out their "free-to-a-good-home corner, left-overs and scraps from their jobs. So Wednesday it was a mother lode of sawn limestone: four slabs ~2.5'x4'x4" and a whole pallet of sawn pavers! I hustled back to get my helpers and we managed to get the slabs into the truck with difficulty, between .4 and .5 ton of stone; it was easier unloading them; I think I've doped out how I can unload them on the farm single-handed without breaking them or myself; they're meanwhile in the driveway; my landlady quickly made it clear she covets them. Too bad.

Friday, I went back, and the limestone pavers were still there, so I loaded them up: 145 3.75"x10.6"x1" pavers are now neatly stacked on a pallet on the farm; should be useful in a patio or path.

[synergy]

Wow, nice scoop ! I never thought they would have saw offs that would basically be cast offs. Very interesting to know and introduce myself ahere locally and see what goes through their shop and what might be for salvage.

[12540dumont]

Steev, I'm oh so envious...a little green.

I have a wee stockpile of used bricks. I'm thinking bench or outdoor oven. I tried a walkway, but the vile voles undermined it and now it's the stub toe/swear path.

I don't think there's anything quite so good as recycling old junk.

I'm still scooping for a 2x2 piece of stainless steel mesh...it will come to me. Leo is always surprised when I line up a project by gathering up junk and then asking him will it do? He often throws back his head and just laughs. Then I know it's good.

Half the work is finding the stuff, cleaning and assembling. Then the person who REALLY knows what they're doing can get 'er done.

[steev]

I had a great stock of bricks until I had to move. I always keep an eye out for such; they don't rot, and eventually I have a use for them. In Winters, Saturday, we saw a portable wood-fired oven where we breakfasted. I got a book on building clay ovens years ago, knowing it's one of the things I have to do, having some serious clay in the back ten.

[steev]

Having a little cabin fever from this week's rain, I was surfing craigslist and found an offer of free used coffeegrounds. I called and went there, thinking on the way that besides soil conditioner/fertilizer, I might try growing mushrooms. It's a factory/warehouse where they produce MUSHROOM KITS. What they're discarding is the squeezings from the press they use to compact the grounds; the excess water and fines are left to drain and then bagged for disposal. They loaded me up ~a cubic yard of this fine material in bags so it's easy to handle. They have that much every week or two. This stuff is primo for fertilizer, and in combination with my supply of bunny bedding it will be dynamite.

It just occurred to me that the local barbecue joints burn a lot of oak; I wonder what they do with all that ash. Couldn't hurt to ask.

[steev]

BTW, my method for dealing solo with those slabs: set short lengths of 3/4" PVC tube in the truck; with help (three of us), load a slab, adding tubes as needed, rolling the slab into the bed; secure slab so it can't be a loose cannon going to the farm (I'd really hate to lose the tailgate on the freeway); back up to a pile of soft compost; push slab out until it tips down and rests on edge; pivot slab on one corner so it can be dropped without trashing truck. So far, so good, starting with the lightest; only the heaviest remains to transport, and I've not broken a slab, my truck, or myself.

[synergy]

I do something similar to get heavy awkward loads out of my truck too and usually ease them out onto bales of straw so I am not dropping things 3 feet off the tailgate onto the ground and creating more havoc . I am not salvaging anything more until I use up what I have !

It strikes me as insane the waste that our societies of abundance spawn . I think I could live nicely off the affluents discards .

[12540dumont]

The two of you should look at those Texas Tiny Houses. They are tearing down old houses and reassembling them as leetle homes.

Good score on the coffee Steev. My whole front garden, which was a parking lot at one time, was built on Starbucks. Leo brings it home on his way from work. We never have purchased coffee there, but they give away the grounds. I wish I could get a yard each time.

My big score this week, was I went to get 2 yards of organic compost and the yard was screaming full of compost. The foreman gave it to me at NO charge. I thought I was dreaming. Now to shovel it out of the trailer. I think I'll wait till it stops raining. I'm such a sissy.

I bought a used playhouse, and paid a guy to bring it here. He tipped his flatbed truck, put a steel roller on the leading edge and winched the playhouse up. He put another roller in a bit later, and more or less did the same thing you are doing with the slabs.

Makes me want to go by our local granite place and see if they have any scraps....

[steev]

Yes. Stone, like brick, doesn't rot while you accumulate it and figure out what can be done with it.

When getting something like bulk compost that will be loaded with a scoop (as opposed to stuff I have to shovel, which goes into bags for handling) I like to lay a long tarp in the bed, extending over the cab; once loaded, the cab end comes back and is roped over for driving to site, where I shovel out until the load is reduced to the point that I can grasp the loose end and pull, rolling the rest of the load out.

Sometimes I do the tarp, then fill the bed with 15gal pots (it takes 17), load the material, transport, unload the bulk of the load already containered.

I looked at those cottages with interest, and am certainly going to explore the possibility of such, although I fear the county requires greater formality (foundation and such).

[12540dumont]

Steev, If they are on piers, they are not permanent, and have much less of a county permit process. I'm going to stand in line next week, if it's still raining and pummel the planning commission to see what exactly will be the charges.

Up in Plumas, they are considered temporary buildings! Basically, the permit is only for the electrical/plumbing. We are going to put in a composting unit inside, so we can skip the entire sewage issue.

Leo seems to think that we could put out solar panels to power them and provided radiant heat.

[steev]

I thought composting toilets were still verboten, or is it OK for a temporary building? Not that it matters, since I've already got a fully approved septic system (big enough for a casino, as they required).

Piers would certainly be preferable; must look into that. I really would like a full bedroom as a second floor, with a deck, for catching the night breeze and to be above the mosquitoes while stargazing. Could be questionable on piers, but nothing ventured...

[circumspice]

I have an old (40+ years old) upright 25 cf freezer in storage. When we bought it in the mid 80s, it was already 15 years old. In 2003 I put it in storage (still operable) & began my world travels. When I finally pull it back out of storage, if it still runs, I'll use it for seed, grains & flour storage. If it has finally croaked, I will use it for secure chemical storage as it has a locking door.

Also, I have a few of the glass dry roasted peanut jars. I like these jars because they are pretty thick glass & have lids that are like canning jar lids. (ie the lid & ring are separate & the lids have the rubber where it contacts the rim of the jar) I have recycled a LOT of these in the past because they were common & easily obtained. Well, no more. The dry roasted peanuts are now packed in plastic jars. Just 6 months ago, I threw a bunch of them in the glass recycling trailer at our little local recycling center. I decided to try using these jars for seed storage after I read an article about vacuum packing seeds in glass canning jars. I want to use my canning jars for consumable foods, so I began looking at the different types of glass jars that I had in my recycling bin. The peanut jars are the only ones that fit the requirements. So, if you have any of those jars just laying around, KEEP THEM for rodent & insect proof seed storage.

[circumspice]

I don't know if this qualifies as re-using junk, but I buy used canning jars from thrift stores. I usually get them for somewhere between 5-25 cents apiece. I inspect them closely & only buy the ones that have no chips or cracks. I have found some that date back to the late 1940s. I'm slowly building up a supply of canning jars. I have also found the large glass canning jars that have the glass lid with the rubber ring & wire bale clasp. I throw away the old rubber ring & replace it with a new ring. I've been storing all my dry goods staples in this type of canning jar. Another way I re-use 'junk' is I buy used small appliances and gadgets. I recently bought two used bread machines for 25 cents each. I kept one & gave the other to someone as a gift.

[steev]

Serendipity rules! Four years or so ago, as part of a gift package for my sweetheart (a cat codependant), I went to the offices of the monthly publication in which I advertise, to mine their back-issue rack for covers featuring cats (they print very arty covers). She recently got around to doing a project with them, and asked that I get some more, if possible, as she was short 5 for what she was making.

So I went by the offices yesterday to find them clearing out to re-locate; another day and all the back-issues would have been recycled; they had exactly 5 that she didn't have copies of.

Further, they had lots of industrial metal shelving units (2'x4'6"), which they were disassembling to discard. I almost felt guilty, they were so happy I was willing to haul them off (two heavy loads in my poor, overworked Nissan p'up).

Moreover, they needed to dump an old metal 4-drawer filing cabinet; guess who has a "new" rodent-proof seed cabinet. Oh, damn! I just realized I now have room to triple my seed holdings. If I take that much out from under the mattress, it's bound to sag. Oh, well; I do; why shouldn't it?

[mountaindweller]

I always uses the colour adds which comes with the weekly paper to make seed raising pots. They are more sturdy than the newspaper ones and are bigger too. I use an old spray can to wrap them around and a staple to keep the paper in place.